George Seurat Research Paper

“Some say they see poetry in my paintings; I see only science.” Georges Seurat said that he loved science as much as he loved art, and he used science in his art work. French painter Georges Seurat, famous for his large scale paintings was also the creator of a new style of painting called pointillism.

Georges Pierre Seurat, born on December 2, 1859. Georges Seurat was born into a wealthy family is a famous artist and painter. His mother had mainly raised him, his brother, and his sister in his childhood because his father was always away for work as a customs official. He got his first ever art lessons from his uncle as a young child. He first got into art around 1875 and then later went on to go to schooling at Ecole Des Beaux-Arts. He took art and science very seriously and because of that he left that school because he didn’t like how they were teaching him and left. He entered a piece of work into an annual salon and got rejected. After being rejected he joined a group of other artists and entered more progressive exhibitions. In 1884 he was sent to the military to serve his time where even then he worked on his art and when he got back he had opened his own studio that he shared with Aman Jean. He got married to

Ms. Knobloch who was a daughter of another artist. He then died at the age of 32 due to an illness (pneumonia or meningitis). His only son died a month after he did and his second child died in the womb of his wife.

Georges Seurat was influenced by many and went on influencing many.

Seurat's first influence was his uncle who also gave him his first art lessons in his early years. He then went on to schooling at Ecole Des Beaux-Arts and was influenced by his art teacher named Henri Lehmann. Seurat's large scale paintings influenced many painters such as Paul Signac and Vincent Van Gogh. Seurat's works inspired Steven Sondheim to write “Sunday in the Park With George”. Chevreul, a French Chemist, was a very main influence on Seurat and other artists. Chevreul discovered that two colors overlapping had an effect of a different color and that is the technique Seurat used. Seurat was very inspired by David Sutter who used mathematics and musicology in his

works.

Georges Seurat known for inventing pointillism and divisionism also used a couple other techniques that are somewhat a mystery. In his pointillism works instead of mixing his colors on his pallet he dabbed the pure colors together on to the portrait. In some paintings Seurat gave it a 3D effect by using graphite and or charcoal. He also used what is called the “line strategy” which is sketching lines based off of your emotions you are having. Seurat was a very curious man also using oil paintings. He had a technique of painting where he sketched classical sculptures, architectural buildings, and some times people. With his preference and style of art he preferred a larger grained paper to paint on.